Somewhere in the midst of my stacked banks of cassettes is one which includes a few songs by Tom Russell. That's how my love for his music began ; just as it did for the likes of John Cale, Nick Cave and many others, on the specially made tapes of my friend and fellow politico Andrew Bartz. After John Peel and his late night shows, it was Andrew who led the way on music with impeccable taste and from 'Who is Russell?' I embarked on the usual quest. ( For younger readers cassettes were rectangular plastic boxes containing reels of easily-tangled tape.....when I took a carrier-full to Japan they thought I was a time-traveller!). Andrew's incredibly eclectic ones were always a joy to listen to and I also loved the titles he gave them , like 'Of feathers and friendship' and ' Laughing like a Labrador dog dancing in the sand'. That was probably around 2008 and after the release of Russell's first Anthology album called 'Veteran's Day', a best of. I've a feeling the tracks featured would've included 'Blue Wing', 'Van Ronk' and the politically charged 'Who's gonna build your wall?' Things haven't changed a lot. When you say you're going to see him at St. David's Hall, people look blank and ask 'Who is he?' Yet, the first song on that Anthology is from 1978 and he's released two albums this year including many of his own songs on 'Folk Hotel'. Fast forward (careful not to mangle the tape) to a damp, blustery November in Cardiff and here is again on Level 3 , Roots Unearthed series. Russell has recorded with the likes of Nanci Griffith and Dave Alvin and been lauded by Johnny Cash and Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, yet remains an outsider. We're still waiting on a new Tom Waits album after the excellent 'Bad as me', Dylan hasn't brought out a classic album for decades and , sadly, Laughing Lennie's gone. Like our very own Meic Stevens, Russell deserves to be up there with all of them. Despite the cowboy image ( white Stetson and red necktie) , he's far from being your safe and steady alt-Country singer. In fact, his album 'Hotwalker' is one of the best this century and draws on Beat writers like Jack Kerouac and , above all, his friend, Charles Bukowski. Because it's a themed cd - a narrative of California beatland, with the exception of 'Van Ronk' from Greenwich Village - he didn't perform anything from it at Cardiff. He's hilariously witty from the off, joking about the aging audience and having digs at Dylan for stealing 'guitar licks from Ramblin Jack Elliott' ( who also features on 'Hotwalker' incidentally). Near the end he's brought a double Jameson's and toasts the audience in Welsh which sounds decidedly Scandinavian (he spent several years playing in Oslo honky-tonks). It strikes me soundly that if Russell was ever going to make it he would've already with the song which was a rousing finale 'Who's gonna build your wall?' After all, it had millions of hits on the net in the States with Trump's proclamations and the careers of thousands of lesser talents have been raised on a single song ( think Rag n Bone Man ). This prophetic song was written over a decade ago and if you want to start anywhere with Russell, listen to this one - 'But if Uncle Sam sends the illegals home Who gonna build your wall?' In it he claims no connection to politics left or right, yet the message suggests otherwise - ' There's one thing I most fear It's a white man in a golf shirt With a cell phone in his ear' It's one song among countless great ones he has written. The set comprised several from his latest album 'Folk Hotel' (his own painting on its cover), which often looks back to his time in Greenwich Village, the subject-matter of the most moving narrative 'Van Ronk'. It opens with 'Up In The Old Hotel' which sets the tone for memories of the Chelsea Hotel and depicts Dylan Thomas as the legendary hard-drinker, with wife Caitlin wailing at him from over the ocean. Interestingly, Russell's primitive / naive painting of Dylan appears on the inside of the cd and the song he co-wrote with Katy Moffatt 'Sparrow of Swansea' takes a more romantic view of the bard , with a melody strikingly similar to McTell's 'Streets of London'. His delivery of it was wonderful - 'Wish I could sing like Richard Burton' he growled as an intro. Very few singer-songwriters can rival Russell live for sheer humour and passion, but this concert was heightened by the standard of his new material. 'Leaving El Paso' and 'The light beyond the Coyote Fence' are both directly autobiographical and trace his move up to Santa Fe in search of the right light to paint , while 'Rise again, handsome Johnny' is a plea for someone like JFK to emerge in the American Trumpmare ; describing Russell's memories of playing football in Dallas. I loved 'The last time I saw Hank' based on a dream and a real encounter with George Jones ( a Country music legend). Its blend of strangeness and sadness was so endearing. Accompanying Russell on this tour is the brilliantly versatile Max De Bernardi, who even did a song from one of his cds, a stirring ragtime. My last memory of Tom Russell that night is having his photo taken with another ancient, who was wearing an Easter 1916 Rising t-shirt. As this fan gripped almost every disc and book from the merch desk, his wife took the photo and Tom quipped - ' Quick, call for security!'

Russell booked into Folk Hotel many years ago. I urge everyone to take a visit there, where every floor's a verse, every chorus stairs. I'll be at the door saying ' Croeso! Welcome!'

PROPHET OF THE WALL

Almost tall as his yard's fence,light breaks throughfrom the stageand one heckler's chihuahuasare under threat.

Dublin Jimmy on the merch desktried to charge us Euros ;Russell's attempting 'Iechyd da!',howling like a coyote,cry-singing the Mexican way.

From criminology in Africato clubs of Greenwich village -white stetson, rattlesnake witand necktie, yet no horseas tonight we all ride.

A prophet of the wall,encounters with the famousare posts on a river journeytravelling towards the sun -one day , he'll fill the frame.